Packaging machines for wrapping and sealing plastic film about an article conventionally utilize a heated wire to seal film layers to one another and to melt through the layers in order to separate one article from another as the articles pass through the machine. Current is supplied to the wire to heat the wire to a high temperature in order to effect the seal and cutting operation. The appearance of the resulting seal is fine and neat as the film shrinks tightly around the package, especially where polypropylene films are involved. Such hot wires are typically used to form both end seals and side seals.
As the wire contacts the film and performs its intended function, it loses heat to the film as well as to the surrounding environment. Accordingly, current must be continually or continuously supplied to the wire in order to maintain the appropriate wire temperature.
Typically the wire is a resistive element approximately 45–50 thousandths of an inch in diameter, therefore making it susceptible to temperature build-up, fatigue and failure. Thus, if the current to the wire is not properly controlled and the wire temperature becomes too high, the wire tends to break. For example, as machine speed increases, the current impulse sent to the seal wire to heat the wire to the appropriate temperature becomes more and more frequent, until such point that the seal system is, in effect, on at all times. The wire becomes more susceptible to failure as the film being sealed is not drawing away the excess heat (acting as a heat sink) as fast as the heat is being applied to the wire. The wire eventually softens, stretches, and breaks. This is a common occurrence particularly when proper operator attention is absent. Changing the wire requires that the machine be shut down, resulting in considerable loss of productivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,499 addresses this problem by providing a seal wire control system that controls the duration of heat impulses applied to the sealing wire. It utilizes an open loop configuration that regulates the heat applied to the seal wire based on the number of articles and the frequency that the articles are run through the wrapper. However, the versatility of this solution is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,203 addresses this problem by monitoring the expansion of the sealing wire. It utilizes a closed loop configuration that regulates the current applied to the wire based on the length of the wire. When the wire expands to a certain threshold length, the current applied to the seal wire is reduced or eliminated. After the wire has sufficiently cooled so as to contract to a length less than the threshold, the current applied is restored. This represents an improvement over the prior configurations, but still requires adjustments when the cycle rate of the packaging machine is adjusted. If these adjustments are not made, the sealing wire will last longer than one controlled by an open loop configuration, but may still fail prematurely due to fatigue.
It would be desirable to provide a seal system that is a closed loop feedback configuration that detects the expansion and contraction of the wire, and adjusts the current so as to regulate the length of the wire in order to protect it from fatigue and failure.
These and other objects will be made apparent by reference to the following description and drawings.